Milestones, bunnies, and the power of art

“I have come to understand that what I am saving by making art is my own vital life.” Toby MacLennan

My sister posted a quote recently that I just love:

I’ve often wondered why I felt compelled to make art. And one day quite by surprise this sentence came to me with the strength of a command: You are saving things from being lost! Over the years I have come to understand that by making art I am certain I am saving my childhood capacity to play from being systematically destroyed. I am certain that by making art I am honorably retrieving from the dumpsters of our society, my awareness of the life of deer and the smell of black dirt just plowed up from a farmer’s field in Iowa. I know that by making art I am preserving my ability to lay down on the ground and stare at a blade of grass until I am filled with wonder. I know I am preserving my capacity to stray out from under the shadow of an idea and look at my hands as if they were just being born. In fact, over the years I have come to understand that what I am saving by making art is my own vital life.

There are so many reasons why art is so important to me and to so many of us. Awareness, play, wonder, connection. Art calls on the pieces of ourselves that are less tangible, that are harder to define, but that are oh so necessary as part of a life well lived.

Let’s start our morning with some happy color. Not only do I adore these flowers, but this is one my favorite colors to paint with. Nature has the most beautiful palette to choose from!

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Creatively this week, I’ve been pushing myself to include even more colorful flowers in my new painting and I’m going to be working even more with flowers moving forward. I love how bold and joyful they are. More to come!

Here’s where I left off last time with this painting:

I was starting to work on the flowers but had a lot more to do. Here’s another in-progress shot after I continued the flowers and updated the shape of the hills:

At this point I had to stop and decide how to move forward, as I knew I wanted to include a rabbit in the foreground somewhere but wasn’t sure where. I’ve been experimenting recently with using trace paper to explore where a painting could lead so I don’t commit to anything too soon. I love the freedom here:

I then sketched some rabbits in my sketchbook at different sizes to see what might work best:

And once I decided on the scale, lightly drew a version onto the painting in pencil:

Here’s the rabbit come to life:

And here’s where the painting is currently:

I have a lot to do still to complete the background, but I’ve been really happy with how this painting has evolved and how the process has led me outside of my comfort zone.

He’s crawling now and he loves to dance. He’s keeping me on my toes for sure and so we spent a lot of last weekend baby-proofing our apartment.

The one piece of parenting advice that’s stuck with me so far has been that as soon as you get used to a routine, everything changes again. I’ve found this to be so very true and so here we go again! Chasing around a crawling / rolling / fearless baby is a whole different ballgame.

Do you know any soon-to-be parents who would love to celebrate their own baby’s milestones with the monthly sticker set? The stickers make a great shower gift. Click here to find the set in the shop.

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Speaking of milestones, Eric and I celebrated 7 years together yesterday. We were talking earlier in the week about what unexpected turns the last 7 years have taken.

They haven’t been easy years or predictable years, but we’ve been figuring out each phase as it passes. It’s been years of business building for me and school on top of a full-time job for Eric. We’ve planned a wedding and had a baby. We haven’t had money to travel or buy a house but we’ve made a home regardless and are both following our dreams in spite of the unknowns.

Honestly, knowing we’re on this crazy ride together to build the life that we want makes all the hard days worth it.

Plus, he makes me laugh when I really need it most.

Photo by Elena Saraga Danyluk

Love on your loved ones this week and/or make some art! Both make everything else a little bit easier.

With love,

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